3 Killed After Truck Rams Into Walmart in Iowa

Associated Press , WFMY9:56 PM. EST December 01, 2016

This photo from Thursday morning, Dec. 1, shows a truck that crashed through the doors of a Wal-Mart store in Pella. (Photo: Jonathon A. Smith/Special to the Register) (Photo: Jonathon A. Smith/The Register, Custom)

Pella, IA - Three people have died and two people were injured after a pickup truck drove through the front entrance of a Wal-Mart store Thursday morning in Pella.

At 9:54 a.m., a 911 caller reported a truck crashed into the Wal-Mart, 1650 Washington St., according to the Iowa State Patrol. The vehicle entered through the front doors on the grocery portion of the store. The incident did not appear to be intentional, authorities said.

Iowa State Patrol spokesman Sgt. Nathan Ludwig said the pickup driver, an older man, was transported to the hospital with injuries. One other person was taken to the hospital with injuries.

None of the victims were children, Ludwig said. The driver was only person in the truck, he said.

Witnesses told Knoxville radio station KNIA/KRLS that truck was traveling at a high rate of speed as it went through the entrance. The store has been evacuated and is reportedly closed as emergency crews investigate the scene.

Judy Playle, of Leighton, who has worked at the store for nine years, said the incident is "a big shock. I know the employees are pretty scared."

"It's a family here," she added. "My thoughts and prayers are with everyone that works here, the man who drove through and his family."

Jonathon A. Smith, of Pella, posted a photo from inside the building of the crash to his Facebook page and called the incident "shocking."

“Kind of nuts," he said. "Things like that doesn’t happen down here."

The State Patrol continues to investigate and will release victim names after families are notified.